In the medical field, defibrillators and defibrillation electrodes have become commonplace. With particular reference to emergency care, portable defibrillators are now being used by mobile medical units to provide on-the-spot defibrillation to patients. Portable defibrillators are now being manufactured by several manufactures including Laerdal, SpaceLabs, and Physio-Control.
Portable defibrillators typically include a defibrillator unit for generating the electrical defibrillation signals to be transmitted to the patient. Portable defibrillators may also include additional medical monitoring capability for monitoring electrical signals from the patient indicating the patients condition, e.g., electrocardiogram (EKG). The portable defibrillators also include cables fixed to the defibrillators at one end and having a cable connector at the other end for mating with a defibrillator connector mounted on the defibrillation electrode. The defibrillation electrodes are secured on the chest of a patient generally by a layer of adhesive on the surface of the electrode. The electrode couples the defibrillation signal from the defibrillator cable to the patient.
Each defibrillator manufacture provides its own defibrillation electrode to be used in combination with its portable defibrillators. The defibrillator connectors on the defibrillation electrodes of the various manufacturers each have unique constructions so that only the cable connectors, and hence the defibrillators, of the manufacturers can be used in combination with the manufacturer's defibrillation electrode. As a result, the defibrillation electrodes used by the mobile medical team may not be compatible with the defibrillator equipment of a subsequent medical team operating on the patient during a subsequent time period.
As an example, in an emergency situation the first medical team to arrive may be a mobile medical team having their own portable defibrillator and will therefore affix defibrillation electrodes compatible with their portable defibrillator to the patient for defibrillation or other medical monitoring. However, the defibrillator of the mobile medical team may not be compatible with the defibrillator contained in an ambulance in which the patient is transported or a hospital where the patient arrives for initial treatment. Accordingly, the defibrillation electrodes of the mobile medical team must be removed from the patient so that defibrillation electrodes that are compatible with the ambulance and/or hospital defibrillator can be replaced therefor.
More importantly, the need to replace defibrillation electrodes so that subsequent defibrillation electrodes are compatible with the defibrillator equipment then being used may cause a dangerous delay in a required defibrillation. More specifically, defibrillation may be required during the time that a first set of defibrillation electrodes are being removed and a compatible set of defibrillation electrodes are being attached to the chest of the patient, thereby causing irreparable injury to the patient. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide apparatus for enabling medical equipment to be coupled to substantially any defibrillation electrode from any manufacturer.